Brains!

The thing about Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is that all the characters have something profound to say. That can be annoying to a lot of people, because no one is that wise and forget putting them all in one book. But I find myself very much enjoying the book precisely for that reason. India is one of those places that Drack really wants to visit, and even after reading Shantaram it still hasn't crept up my travel list - then again I still have about 700ish pages to go.

Some good quotes so far:

"Friendship is something that gets harder to understand, every damn year of your life. Friendship is like a kind of algebra test that nobody passes. In my worst moods, I think the best you can say is that a friend is anyone you don't despise." - page 58

"She would've done anything for him. Some women are like that. Some loves are like that. Most loves are like that, from what I can see. Your heart starts to feel like an overcrowded lifeboat. You throw your pride out to keep it afloat, and your self-respect and your independence. After a while you start throwing people out - your friends, everyone you used to know. And it's still not enough. The lifeboat is still sinking, and you know it's going to take you down with it." - pg 63

"Optimism is the first cousin of love, and it's exactly like love in three ways: it's pushy, it has no real sense of humour, and it turns up turns up where you least expect it". - pg 90

"Wisdom is just cleverness, with all the guts kicked out of it." - Pg 99

"I clenched my teeth against the stars. I closed my eyes. I surrendered to sleep. One of the reasons why we crave love, and seek it so desperately, is that love is the only cure for loneliness, and shame, and sorrow. But some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths about yourself are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. And some things are just so sad that only your soul can do the crying for you." - pg 124

"Didier once told me, in a rambling, midnight dissertation, that a dream is the place where a wish and fear meet. When the wish and the fear are exactly the same, he said, we call the dream a nightmare." - pg 150